


But suddenly from somewhere out of the blue, I see a different light around you.

by fanfics_she_wrote



Series: Mara's JatP drabbles & one-shots [7]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alive AU, Everyone Is Alive, F/M, Jukebox, One-Shot, Sick Fic, Tumblr request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 20:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30061026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfics_she_wrote/pseuds/fanfics_she_wrote
Summary: Julie and Luke, family friends, end up sick together. While cooped up sick at Julie’s, a little conversation leads to a lot of secrets.
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Series: Mara's JatP drabbles & one-shots [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015428
Comments: 11
Kudos: 80





	But suddenly from somewhere out of the blue, I see a different light around you.

Julie Molina had a great friend circle. She loved each of them equally. Well, maybe Flynn got a bit more than everyone else but then again, Flynn had also seen Julie throwing up the last time she had food poisoning so maybe Flynn deserved a little extra love for sticking around past that.

The only person in the circle that could contend for Flynn’s level of appreciation in Julie’s eyes was Luke Patterson. And it was only because her mom and his dad were childhood friends, which, naturally, led to Julie and Luke growing up childhood friends.

Despite their close friendship, Luke and Julie rarely interacted at school. They had their own, smaller, circles and that was perfectly okay. Their circles merged after Luke and his friends played live music for Julie’s theatre performance when the radio gave out without warning. Well, to get more specific, it was some time after Alex and Willie started dating and involving both their friends on lunches and hangouts.

So yeah, things were great, school was fun and they all had a bunch of fun together. They even planned to visit an amusement park that Saturday too.

Unfortunately, the trip to the amusement park seemed like it was gonna have to wait.

“I told you not to hug me,” Julie grumbled through her stuffy nose.

Luke pulled a face for her. “I didn’t. I hugged my mom and then you hugged my mom. I’m not at fault here.”

Julie sighed. “You think she’s sick, too?”

“Nah, mom’s got a great immune system. She probably just has a slight cough.”

Just then a coughing bout overtook Julie. Leaning forward in her chair, she took a few deep breaths, relaxing as she felt Luke’s hand moving in slow circles on her back. Slowly, her breathing returned to normal and the sharp ache in her forehead subsided. When she sat back again, she leaned her head against Luke. “I hate being sick. This is all your fault.”

“We’ve just been over this. I didn’t hug you.”

“Potato, pot-ah-to.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “You know you’re heavy, right?”

Julie’s response was to stop half-supporting herself and drop all her weight on Luke’s side, nearly sending them both off their chairs.

“If you weren’t so sick, I’d … I’d pinch you!”

“You mean if you had the energy to do it.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Luke managed to say before he coughed too, albeit much less than Julie. “Think your mom will drop me home?”

“You live right next door, idiot. Obviously.”

When Rose walked into the nurse’s office, she sighed at the two teens. “We told you two to stay at home. Come on, let’s go.”

* * *

As Rose pulled into her driveway, Luke thanked her for the ride.

“Where do you think you’re going, mijo?”

“H-home?” Luke asked uncertainly, his hand on the door handle.

“Your parents are out of town for the weekend.”

“Yeah,” Luke nodded, “I was gonna stay over at Bobby’s but I don’t wanna make him sick–”

“Well, Julie’s already sick anyway. You can stay with us and when you’re feeling better, you can go over to Bobby’s.”

“But–”

“Mijo, I’m not asking,” Rose said, staring at Luke in the rearview mirror, daring him to get out of the car.

Julie snickered at the fear in his eyes as he settled back into the seat and waited until Rose had pulled further up towards the house before attempting to get out again.

“Why don’t you two go get comfortable on in the living room, hm? I’ll put some food up for you and it’ll be ready before you even know it.”

Julie yawned as she trudged past Rose and into the house. “Can we sleep instead?”

“Absolutely. Go get some rest, okay? Luke, if you’re tired, you can sleep in Carlos’ room. He’s spending the week with Victoria so it’s all yours if you need, okay?”

“Thank you,” Luke managed before a yawn interrupted him.

Rose ruffled Julie’s hair first, then Luke’s. Now, what could she feed them that they’d manage to keep down?

* * *

“Sorry I made you sick,” Luke mumbled.

Julie shrugged. “It’s okay. Flynn said she was gonna drag me on the biggest rollercoaster first so, in a way, I’m kinda glad we won’t be going tomorrow.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “You do this every time we go. Just get on the rollercoaster. It’s not that much bigger than the one we went on last time.”

Julie stared at Luke over her bowl of soup. “I passed out.”

Luke shrugged. “It makes for a good story!”

“For you!”

“Don’t yell, Julie, you don’t have the lung capacity.”

Julie scrunched up her nose and mocked Luke in a high voice. “You don’t have the lung capacity.”

“Oh, real mature.”

Julie blew a raspberry at Luke. A raspberry that turned into a cough. Luke was out of his blanket in a second.

“Julie?” Rose called from the kitchen. “You good, baby?”

“I got it!” Luke called back. He knelt in front of Julie as she hunched over and rubbed her back in small circles. “Easy, Jules,” he murmured.

“I hate being sick,” Julie said for the umpteenth time, resting her chin on Luke’s shoulder.

Luke froze, one hand on Julie’s arm, the other on her back. What was he supposed to do now? Just … hold her?

“I know,” he said soothingly, “you’ll get better quickly, don’t worry.”

“Ugh, I hope so.” Slowly, Julie pulled away and eased back into the couch.

Luke pouted, only because he wanted to stay holding Julie in a gentle and comfortable embrace. He scrunched his nose up and quickly shook his head. What the hell was that all about?

He was back in his corner of the couch, under his blanket, when Rose arrived with a glass of water for each of them.

“I’m going to get dinner running and when I come back to check on you two, those glasses better be empty.”

“Yes, mom,” they chorused.

It wasn’t really a big thing. Luke called her ‘mom’ often. Julie even called Emily 'mom’ if she happened to be over at Luke’s. But that didn’t take away from Rose’s (or Emily’s) absolute delight over being called mom by her honorary child.

* * *

“Sorry I made fun of you when you first got sick,” Julie mumbled.

“It’s okay,” Luke said with a slight laugh, half paying attention to Julie and half paying attention to the TV. They’d taken a good nap and were already feeling better. “Karma got you, I guess.”

“I guess.”

“You got it bad, though,” Luke said, glancing at Julie. “I never coughed like that.”

“Exhibit A of why I utterly detest being sick. The headache is unbearable sometimes.” Julie gave Luke a small smile. “But it’s okay. I should already be feeling better by tomorrow.”

Julie turned her gaze back to the TV. Luke didn’t. He kept his gaze on Julie, watching her carefully. He’d always had the natural inclination to want to care for Julie, but until then it had always been small things. Wanting to make sure her cuts and scrapes got a band-aid. Wanting to check in with a simple text when she was sick. Wanting to be sure her work was up to date when she missed out.

But now … now it was a little different. It wasn’t really strange, but he couldn’t quite understand it. Why, when she complained about her headache, did he want to pull her close and try to distract her from it? Why, when she hunched over coughing, did he want to be by her side, holding her close and trying to ease the fit? Why, when she paid him no attention, did he want to just sit there and watch her?

Julie glanced back and Luke froze like a deer in headlights, his already pink cheeks growing redder. Julie grinned. “Is that the fever or are you shy about something?”

“Definitely the fever,” Luke said quickly.

“Uh huh,” Julie said with a grin, turning back to the TV again. “I think you’re pretty cute too.”

Luke shrank into his blanket. “I didn’t say that.”

“Your face said enough, Patterson.”

“You really think I’m cute?”

Julie looked at Luke, who had the blanket wrapped over his head as he pouted at her. His flushed cheeks had calmed to the usual pink whenever he was running a fever. She couldn’t help but smile. “The cutest.”

He beamed. “I think you’re pretty cute too. Wait, that’s what you said–”

“Cute,” Julie mumbled under her breath, shaking her head and turning back to the TV. She was surprised by Luke suddenly dropping his head in her lap. She grinned, amused. “Hi, there.”

“Hi. I want attention.”

“Well, mom said she was just gonna make sure Carlos’ room is clean enough for you to walk without getting impaled by a Lego brick but I’m sure she’d be happy to listen to your gibberish when she’s all done.”

“I want _your_ attention.”

“And I wanna watch the season finale.”

Luke turned over to glance at the TV. “You’ve seen this episode at least six times. I know because five of them were at my house and youd already seen it once before that.”

Julie flicked Luke’s nose lightly. “It’s my favourite, leave me be.”

“Fine, but I’m staying here.”

“Okay, just be quiet.”

Luke felt like he had left the land of the living when he felt Julie’s fingers in his hair. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing and somehow, the fact that she was playing with his hair on autopilot made him giddy.

“Can you put this on the table for me, please?” Julie asked absently, resting her empty glass on Luke’s shoulder.

He did as she asked, just managing to reach the coffee table.

“Thank you.”

Bored but unwilling to move, Luke began to pick at the threads on Julie’s bracelets. She rested her hand on his chest, knowing he’d start whining if she took the bracelets away.

“Who made this one for you?”

Julie glanced at her arm to see Luke playing with a blue string, her name strung on in letter beads, a star bead on either side. “You did.”

“Really?”

“I think we were about eight or nine. That was when Flynn got her bracelet set and we spent so many lunches making bracelets. You got jealous because I kept wearing Flynn’s bracelets so you made one for me yourself.”

“Huh,” Luke said, “I don’t remember, though.”

“Not surprising. You were running a fever then, too. A pretty high one. Your mom gave you cough syrup and you got a burst of creative inspiration. Haven’t you heard her tell the story? It’s one of her favourites.”

“I hear the words 'when Luke was little’ and I instantly tune it out.”

Julie laughed. “Sounds about right.”

Luke watched the smile linger on Julie’s face as she watched the episode she knew by heart. God, she was so pretty.

Luke scrunched his nose up again. Yeah, Julie was pretty and yeah, he’d always known that. But in the way he knew Flynn was beautiful and Carrie was stunning. In the way he knew Reggie was adorable and Bobby was cute and Alex was gorgeous. In the way he knew Willie was magnificent. It was just something he’d always known. He and his friends were hot as hell and that was just a fact that they all seemed to know.

But laying with his head in Julie’s lap, watching her unconsciously smile at his own antics, it seemed like a brand new thought. How could someone he’d known his whole life suddenly look different?

“Julie.”

“Hm?” Julie didn’t look away from the TV.

“You’re really pretty.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling wider. She lightly tugged a lock of his hair. “You’re pretty, too.”

“No, I mean, like, really pretty. Like … ultra pretty.”

Julie scowled at Luke. “What did you do?”

“Nothing! I just … I just really like your smile. It’s so…”

“Pretty?”

Luke nodded. He poked her cheek lightly. “I like when you smile.”

“Yeah?” Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t hold back a smile.

Luke smiled too. “Yeah.”

Caught up with Luke’s spontaneous declaration, Julie missed her favourite part of the episode – the one where they finally had their first date. But Luke didn’t.

“When we get better,” he said slowly, “when we’re not sick anymore … Do you think we could go out together? Maybe next weekend?”

Julie nodded. “Absolutely. Flynn already texted about rescheduling–”

“No. No, I mean … like a date. Just you and me.”

“Oh,” Julie said softly, eyes wide.

“Oh? Julie, 'oh’ is what you say when you get socks for Christmas.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m just … surprised. I thought I worked out this crush thing and then here you are, asking me out and all I can think is that I wasted so much energy trying to stifle it all down when I could’ve just asked you out myself like two years ago.”

Luke blinked up at Julie. “So, is that a yes or a no? I’m a little confused.”

“Oh, only a little? Yes, you dork.”

Luke suddenly yawned.

“Tired?”

“Only a little.”

“Go to sleep,” Julie said, using the same tone Rose had used on them both earlier.

Luke thought it was going to be pretty difficult to fall asleep when Julie was sitting there, threading her fingers through his hair like she had no idea how fast she made his heart beat. But it barely took him a minute before he was out completely. With a yawn of her own, Julie quickly followed.

* * *

Carrie snickered softly. “Quick!” she whispered. “They’re waking up!”

“Okay!” Willie whispered back. “Okay, hold it up.”

The bunch of them gathered behind the ridiculously large cardboard posted they’d thrown together the moment they arrived after the text from Rose.

Blinking tiredly, Julie and Luke sat up and took a few seconds to focus on the grinning faces in front of them.

“Congratulations!”

Julie and Luke both turned several shades redder (not by any fault of their ebbing fevers) as the group thrust the banner forward. _It’s about damn time_.

“Shut up,” Julie mumbled, retreating under her blanket to hide her face.

Luke scowled. “You could’ve said something!”

“Watching was funnier,” Alex admitted.

As he did, the front door opened and in walked Ray. He took one look at the scene before him and groaned. “I can’t believe I lost a full ten dollars.”

“You bet on us?” Julie shrieked, throwing the blanket off.

“Well … yeah,” Ray said, “your Tia is very persuasive.”

Julie shrank back into the blanket, groaning in embarrassment.

Rose gasped. “Someone get Emily on the phone! She owes me five dollars!”

“Mom!”

But despite the embarrassment that was their family, Julie and Luke were very happy to have finally admitted their feelings – to themselves and to each other.

Neither of them could wait for next weekend.


End file.
